The first four chapters of the text are considered to be essential for understanding the basics of LabVIEW. They are also meant to be completed sequentially as each section builds on previous sections. Chapters after number 4 are meant to be more like independent modules that can be completed in any desired order.

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The first four chapters of the text are considered to be essential for understanding the basics of LabVIEW. They are also meant to be completed sequentially as each section builds on previous sections. Chapters after number 4 are meant to be more like independent modules that can be completed in any desired order. The content of chapters is summarized below:

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Chapters 1-3: Fundamentals of the LabVIEW Graphical Programming Language. Central features of LabVIEW including its control loop structures, graphing modes, mathematical functions, and text-based MathScript commands are learned in the course of writing digitized waveform simulation programs.

Accessing LabVIEW on Our Computers

Currently LabVIEW is installed on one machine in the lab. When looking at the desktop computers straight on, the rightmost computer closest to the books contains an installation of LabVIEW. This computer runs Linux but has Windows 7 installed as a virtual machine. Our version of LabVIEW is installed on Windows, so the Windows virtual machine must be ran before LabVIEW can be accessed. Running Windows is simple; there is a shortcut on the Linux desktop called "Hankwin" which can be clicked to open. Once Windows is running, LabVIEW can be found in the Programs menu.

What is LabVIEW?

LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) is a development environment and system-design platform for a visual programming language called "G". LabVIEW is commonly used by scientists and engineers for the purposes of data acquisition, instrument control, and industrial automation. It is developed and maintained by National Instruments.

LabVIEW is made for engineering and experimental science. It is a programming language and underneath the hood it does most things similarly to other text-based programming languages, but all of this information is presented to the user very differently. LabVIEW is a visual and graphical programming language. Instead of pages of text, LabVIEW source code appears as a graphical block-diagram. These graphical block-diagrams contain function-nodes (analogous to functions in Python for example) that the user draws virtual wires between. These virtual wires between different function nodes allow the transfer of variables. This style of programming is called dataflow programming.

LabVIEW also includes extensive hardware support for interfacing with cameras, sensors, and other devices. Users can interface to hardware by either writing direct bus commands (USB, GPIB, Serial) or using high-level, device-specific, drivers that provide native LabVIEW function nodes for controlling the device. LabVIEW's ability to interact with and control different devices is essential to experimental physics and lab work in general.

Learning from the Text

The first four chapters of the text are considered to be essential for understanding the basics of LabVIEW. They are also meant to be completed sequentially as each section builds on previous sections. Chapters after number 4 are meant to be more like independent modules that can be completed in any desired order. The content of chapters is summarized below:

Chapters 1-3: Fundamentals of the LabVIEW Graphical Programming Language. Central features of LabVIEW including its control loop structures, graphing modes, mathematical functions, and text-based MathScript commands are learned in the course of writing digitized waveform simulation programs.